When you open a knitting machine it does look like Spock's brain at first. Don't be discourage. Read the instruction manual, join a guild, check out support groups on Ravelry. There is help starting here.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Fortune Cookies

On Friday DH, daughter and I went out to eat Chinese at our favorite restaurant Silver Dragon. At the end of the meal I opened my fortune cookie and it read "You will receive a gift given freely and gladly." I thought what a great time for this fortune to come as the next day I was going to a sort of Machine Knitting yard sale at my guild.

I had sort of forgotten about my fortune as the sale went on. I really didn't see much I wanted to buy as I'm saving my pennies for Christmas gifts. I bought a $1 cone of some beautiful acrylic yarn. I bought a linker for $5 for a friend in the Sacramento Machine Knitting Guild. He had mentioned he wanted a linker at the last meeting. I bought a couple MK magazines and a cone of beautiful forest green wool from Scotland. All total I spent about $20.

Where I was sitting and there was a knitting machine that many people were looking at. It was kind of pitiful. No tools, no row counter, missing it's cast on comb. Many of the experienced machine knitters were brought over to consult on whether it would be a good starter machine. It was getting high praise from everyone. Still it just sat there. The sale was pretty much over when the owner of the machine and other things on the table asked if anyone wanted the box on the table. No one spoke up and she looked at me. I thought she meant the knitting machine, but she was referring to the knit leader. She said I don't know if it works, but you're welcome to have it. I said OK. Then she pointed to the knit leader. I thought well it will be interesting to see what this thing is and if it works.

When I went to retrieve the knit leader she then asked what I would do with it. I told her that I am working with a teenage group at my daughter's school called Caring for Cancer Patients. That I was teaching these teenagers how to machine knit to make hats for donation to their charities. Then she said, "Here take the knitting machine too. Are you really going to use it for charity?" I told her that I already have pictures on my blog of the teenagers making hats using my machines. That I thought it would be nice to get a machine for the group to clean and refurbish. So, they can learn how to take care of a knitting machine and have a machine of their own.

She was happy to donate the machine and not to have to cart it back home. I was very excited for the group. Then it occurred to me that my fortune cookie prediction had come true.